Aspiration seal



Dec. 24, 1963 5, J, s o 3,115,137

ASPIRATION SEAL Filed March 12, 1962 nae INVENTOR.

Sfan/ey ($017 BY A 77'0 R/VEX United States Patent Fiied Mar. 12, 1962, Set. No. 179,120. 7 creams. e1. res-21s This invention relates to a cartridge for use with hypodermic syringes.

In particular, the invention relates to a cartridge which is intended to be used but once and then thrown away, the advantage of this type of cartridge being that sterility may be maintained and there is no possibility of contamination being carried over from one patient to another.

In a common type of such a cartridge there is provided an assembly consisting of a barrel or tube filled with medication, one of the heads of the barrel being closed off by a stopper, the stopper having a hypodermic hollow needle partially traversing the same. Immediately before use, the needle is thrust the rest of the way through the material of the stopper in order to obtain communication between the interior of the barrel and the passageway in the needle. In another type of a one-use cartridge, a bore is preformed in the stopper and a ball is placed in the bore at the end of the stopper closest to the medicament. In such a construction, when it is intended to use the cartridge, a needle is thrust into the other end of the bore of the stopper and, after traversal of the bore, against the ball, the ball being then expelled from the stopper, thereby placing the hollow of the needle in communication with the medicament.

These devices of the prior art, while effective to seal off the contents of the cartridge until the cartridge is to be used, may, in use, be ineffective to deliver a proper close of medication to a patient by reason of clogging of the hollow of the needle with bits of material shaved off or cored from the stopper, as the needle is thrust therethrough or with cores of the diaphragm, as the needle penetrates therethrough. If the material removed from the stopper be very small and of a size insufficient to clog the passageway in the needle, it may, along with the medicament, undesirably and uanavoidably be injected into the patient with possibility of inducing the formation of carcinoma or other diseases.

It is an object of this invention to provide a cartridge wherein, after the needle is thrust through the stopper, unobstructed communication is obtained between the contents of the cartridge and the passageway in the needle notwithstanding the translation of the needle through the stopper and without danger of introducing undesired foreign bodies into a patient.

Furthermore, it is desirable, and indeed generally required, that subsequent to insertion of the needle into the patient and prior to ejecting of the fluid from the cartridge, an aspiration through the needle be effected to determine whether the needle has penetrated and is in communication with a vein or artery.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a cartridge with means to make it imperative for the operative to aspirate through the needle prior to ejecting the fluid from the cartridge.

It is a further object of the invention to combine, in a one-use cartridge, structure which shall prevent restriction of the passageway in the needle by material removed from the stopper, which shall prevent injection of such material into a patient and which shall require aspiration through the needle prior to evacuation of the contents of the cartridge.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a means to prevent the ball, which prior to needle penetration of the stopper obstructs the bore, from again obstructing the bore, once it has been displaced therefrom.

Other objects will be made clear upon consideration of the following specification and claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view through a cartridge with the cartridge parts in storage position, and

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view through the same cartridge as shown in FIG. 1, with the cartridge in condition preparatory to use and showing in dotted lines the displacement of a bead from the bore in the stopper, responsive to a withdrawal movement of the plunger in the tube or barrel.

Now referring to the drawings with greater particularity, at It) is shown a cylindrical tube of glass or the like having a resilient piston 12 or the like inserted at one end thereof. The plunger has a threaded stud 13 affixed thereto. Plugged into the opposite end of the tube is a cylindrical stopper 14 of resilient material such as rubber or resilient plastic, the stopper having a circular flange 16 of greater diameter than the outside diameter of tube 10 and having an edge abutting the end of the tube to limit the movement of the stopper into the tube. Formed within the stopper and running axially of the length of the stopper is a tWo-diametered bore 28, the major length of the bore being a duct of small diameter as indicated at 22 and an interiorly positioned minor length of the bore being a passage larger in diameter, as indicated at 24. If desired, the bore 20 may be furnished with a flared mouth 26 to facilitate the entrance of a bead 28 and a following hollow needle 30 into the duct 22.

The bead 28 is of a material harder than the material of the stopper and may be of glass. It is larger in diameter than the duct 22 and of a size to just be frictionally held Within the passage 24 when forced thereinto by the needle, as will be described, with very little distortion of the Wall of the passage 24 and, hence, with a small amount of friction between the bead and said wallso that, on an aspirating movement of the plunger 12, the head will be sucked out of the passage and dropped into the medicament in the tube. The end of the stopper which has the passage 24 therein is formed with a circumferential recess 31 and curved convex surface 32 leading to the recess to prevent the bead from accidentally reentering the passage 24, once it has been ejected therefrom, and allowing the ball to gravitate into the recess rather than to the passage 24.

The needle is a cannula having a sharp end 33 and a blunt end 34. It is fixedly mounted in a hard rubber or hard plastic hub 36 having a flange in the form of a sleeve 38 the inner wall of which is telescopically engaged with flange 16 of stopper 14 and with the outer wall of the tube. A bleed duct 39 is provided in the hub to allow air below the hub to escape upon movement of the hub toward the stopper. The sleeve is longer than the projection of the blunt end of the needle within the sleeve so that when the sleeve is telescopically engaged with the tube 10 and moved toward the piston 12, the needle will be guided in its axial movement within the bore. The outside diameter of the needle is substantially equal to the diameter of the duct 22 so that the needle can slide snugly through the stopper with very little distortion of the stopper. The outside diameter of the needle is less than that of the bead.

In assembly of the cartridge, the piston is inserted into one end of the tube 19, a quantity of fluid medication is introduced into the tube and the stopper 14 is inserted into the end of the tube through which the medicament was introduced. Next the bead 28 is laid in the mouth 26 of the stopper and the sleeve 38 is telescoped over flange 16 of stopper 1 and the adjacent end of the tube, causing the blunt end 34 of the needle to engage the bead 28 and thrust it ahead of the needle end, as the needle is pushed into the stopper. As the bead moves along the duct 22 it compresses the material of the stopper and spreads the duct, allowing the needle to follow without its end tearing or cutting away any part of the stopper material. Obstruction of the needle by shavings from off the wall of the bore or injection of shaved-oft stopper material into the patient is thus obviated. The internal wall sleeve 33 which telescopically engages and compresses flange 16 of stopper l4 and extends over the end portion of tube It provides a seal effective to maintain sterility within the enclosed space above stopper 14 when a needle guard (not shown) is positioned over the outside end of hub 36.

In the assembly of the cartridge, the displacement of the head is stopped prior to its entrance into the passage 24, which is the wider portion of the bore, to place the cartridge in storage condition.

When the cartridge is to be used, the hub 36 is forced to move in the direction of the piston to the position shown in FIG. 2. During this movement, the blunt end of the hollow needle engages the bead 28 and forces it through the duct 22 and into the passage 24, where it comes to rest, lightly frictionally engaged by the walls of the passage 24 as above described. The end 34 of the needle moves as well, unobstructed by any material of the stopper, into the passage 24, as indicated in FIG. 2. The movement of the needle is arrested just after the blunt end has entered the passage 24 by reason of the inner face of the hub 36 engaging the flanged end of the stopper 14-. In this condition the cartridge is inserted into a hypodermic cartridge holder, as the cartridge holder disclosed in Patent 2,956,563 to Stanley J. Sarnoff dated October 18, 1960, and the plunger of the holder is threaded onto the stud 3.3.

After the needle end 33 has been inserted subcutaneously into the patient, the plunger of the holder is retracted a slight distance to Withdraw the piston so as to cause an aspirating effect in the needle. This action causes the bead 28 to be sucked out of the passage 24 and it will fall into the medication within tube 10. Also, if the needle is in a vein or artery, fiuid therefrom will appear in the cartridge it) and thereby indicate to the operator that he must replace the needle, if it is not his intention to inject into a blood vessel, and repeat the aspiration. If the sample shows proper location of the pointed end of the needle, the plunger and piston 12 will be advanced to eject the medication into the patient. The medication is free to flow through the needle since the hollow of the needle is unobstructed either by the ball or by any of the material of the stopper. As pointed out heretofore, once the ball has been dislodged from the passage 24, it is hindered from again obstructing the passage by reason of the existence of the recess 31 and of the curved surface 32 on the stopper. Upon completion of the ejecting operation, the plunger will be unthreaded from the stud 13, and withdrawn. After this, the empty cartridge can be removed from the holder and discarded.

Although the stopper duct is shown with a flared entrance opening, the needle bleed as a straight-through passage in the stopper, and the sleeve as not positioned in engagement with the wall of the tube 10 below the overhanging fiange of the stopper, these parts may be formed in any of the modes described in an application Serial No. 164,325 for a cartridge and process for assembling the same filed by Stanley J. Sarnoff on January 4, 1962.

While particular embodiments of this invention have been illustrated and described, modifications thereof will occur to those skilled in the art. It is to be understood, therefore, that this invention is not to be limited to the particular arrangements disclosed, and it is intended in the appended claims to cover all modifications within the spirit and scope of this invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A cartridge for use with a hypodermic cartridge holder comprising:

a tube,

a piston at one end of said tube,

a resilient stopper at the other end of said tube,

medication in the tube between said piston and stopper,

said stopper having a passageway therethrough having a first portion of small cross section through a major portion of the stopper and a second portion of much larger cross section at the end of the stopper which communicates directly with said medication,

a bead in said passageway adapted to be located in said second portion and of a size to be just frictionally retained in said second portion of the passageway but yet dislodgable by suction through the passageway,

a hollow needle slidable in said passageway and with its hollow portion obturated by said bead,

the hollow in said needle being exposed and in communication with said medication upon movement of said piston in a direction away from the stopper with consequent sucking of the bead out of the section portion of the passageway, and means limiting the motion of the needle toward the piston to prevent the end of the needle from dislodging the bead from the second portion of the passageway.

2. A cartridge for use with a hypodermic cartridge holder comprising:

a tube,

a piston at one end of said tube,

a resilient stopper at the other end of said tube,

medication in the tube between said piston and stopper,

said stopper having a bore therethrough extending in a direction parallel to the axis of the tube,

a portion of the bore forming a duct of small diameter,

a second portion of the bore forming a passage of larger diameter and communicating directly with the medication in the tube,

a bead of substantially the larger diameter of the passage and just frictionally held in the duct and releasable from the passage on an aspirating motion of the piston,

a hollow needle having an external diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the bore snugly engaged by the stopper,

said needle being substantially in contact with said bead, and means limiting the motion of the needle toward the piston to prevent the end of the needle from dislodging the head from the passage.

3. A cartridge for use with a hypodermic cartridge holder comprising:

a tube,

a piston at one end of the tube,

a resilient stopped at the other end of the tube,

medication in the tube between the piston and the stopper,

said stopper having a bore therethrough of uniform cross section and extending in a direction parallel to the axis of the tube with a passage of larger cross section than the remainder of the bore and communicating directly with the medication,

a head in said bore adapted in one of its positions to be just located in said passage and of a size to be frictionally held therein but releasable upon the a plication of suction to Within the tube,

a hollow needle slidable in said bore having its hollow obturated by said bead when in said bore, said needle in its sliding movement engaging and forcing the head to move into the passage, means limiting the motion of the needle toward the piston to prevent the end of the needle from dislodging the head from the passage, and

means to guide the needle in its movement comprising a hub rigidly mounting the needle,

a flange in the form of a sleeve on said hub,

said sleeve telescoping the outer surface of the tube, and said sleeve housing an end portion of the needle. 4. A cartridge for use with a hypodermic cartridge holder comprising:

a tube,

a piston at one end of said tube,

a resilient stopper at the other end of said tube,

medication in the tube between said piston and stopper,

said stopper having a bore therethrough extending in a direction parallel to the axis of the tube,

a portion of the bore forming a duct of small diameter,

a second portion of the bore forming a passage of larger diameter and communicating directly with the medication in the tube,

a bead of substantially the larger diameter of the passage and just frictionally held in the duct and releasable from the passage on an aspirating motion of the piston,

a hollow needle having an external diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the bore snugly engaged by the stopper,

said needle being substantially in contact with said bead,

and means for guiding said needle in its movement comprising a hub rigidly mounting the needle,

a flange in the form of a sleeve on said hub,

said sleeve telescoping the outer surface of the tube,

and said sleeve housing an end portion of the needle and means limiting the motion of the needle toward the piston to prevent the end of the needle from dislodging the bead from the passage.

5. A cartridge for use with a hypodermic cartridge holder comprising;

a tube,

a piston at one end or said tube,

a resilient stopper at the other end of said tube,

medication in the tube between said piston and stopper,

said stopper having a bore therethrough extending in a direction parallel to the axis of the tube,

a portion of the bore forming a duct of small diameter,

a second portion of the bore forming a passage of larger diameter and communicating directly with the medication in the tube,

a bead of substantially the larger diameter of the passage and lodged in the duct,

and a hollow needle having an external diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the bore snugly engaged by the stopper,

said needle being substantially in contact with said head, and

means for guiding said needle in its movement comprising a hub rigidly mounting the needle,

a flange in the form of a sleeve on said hub, said sleeve telescoping the outer surface of the tube, and said sleeve housing an end portion of the needle,

and means limiting the motion of the needle toward the piston to prevent the end of the needle within the stopper from dislodging the bead from the passage, whereby the bead may be dislodged from the passage by an aspirating motion of the piston.

6. A cartridge for use with a hypodermic cartridge holder comprising:

atube,

a piston. at one end of said tube,

a resilient stopper at the other end or" said tube,

medication in the tube between said piston and stopper,

said stopper having a bore therethrough extending in a direction parallel to the axis of the tube,

a portion of the bore forming a duct of small diameter,

a second portion of the bore forming a passage of larger diameter and communicating directly with the medication in the tube,

a bead of substantially the larger diameter of the passage and lodged in the duct,

and a hollow needle having an external diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the bore snugly engaged by the stopper,

said needle being substantially in contact with said head,

and means for guiding said needle in its movement comprising a hub rigidly mounting the needle,

a flange in the form of a sleeve on said hub, said sleeve telescoping the outer surface of the tube, and said sleeve housing an end portion of the needle,

and means limiting the motion of the needle toward the piston to prevent the end of the needle within the stopper from dislodging the head from the passage, whereby the bead may be dislodged from the passage by an aspirating motion of the piston,

said limiting means comprising an inner face of the hub and an opposing face of the stopper.

7. A cartridge for use with a hypodermic cartridge holder comprising:

a tube,

a piston at one end of said tube,

a resilient stopper at the other end of said tube,

medication in the tube between said piston and stopper,

said stopper having a passageway therethrough having a portion communicating directly with said medication,

a head of substantially the diameter of said portion of the passageway frictionally held in said portion, said head being larger than said passageway,

said stopper at the medication contacting end of the stopper having a circumferential recess and a convex surface on the stopper from the medication end of the passageway to the recess.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,143,855 Park June 22, 1915 2,453,589 Poux Nov. 9, 1948 2,607,344 Brown Aug. 19, 1952 2,688,966 Huber Sept. 14, 1954 2,735,430 Huber Feb. 21, 1956 2,798,487 Ferguson July 9, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 882,600 Germany July 9, 1953 

1. A CARTRIDGE FOR USE WITH A HYPODERMIC CARTRIDGE HOLDER COMPRISING: A TUBE, A PISTON AT ONE END OF SAID TUBE, A RESILIENT STOPPER AT THE OTHER END OF SAID TUBE, MEDICATION IN THE TUBE BETWEEN SAID PISTON AND STOPPER, SAID STOPPER HAVING A PASSAGEWAY THERETHROUGH HAVING A FIRST PORTION OF SMALL CROSS SECTION THROUGH A MAJOR PORTION OF THE STOPPER AND A SECOND PORTION OF MUCH LARGER CROSS SECTION AT THE END OF THE STOPPER WHICH COMMUNICATES DIRECTLY WITH SAID MEDICATION, A BEAD IN SAID PASSAGEWAY ADAPTED TO BE LOCATED IN SAID SECOND PORTION AND OF A SIZE TO BE JUST FRICTIONALLY RETAINED IN SAID SECOND PORTION OF THE PASSAGEWAY BUT YET DISLODGABLE BY SUCTION THROUGH THE PASSAGEWAY, A HOLLOW NEEDLE SLIDABLE IN SAID PASSAGEWAY AND WITH ITS HOLLOW PORTION OBTURATED BY SAID BEAD, THE HOLLOW IN SAID NEEDLE BEING EXPOSED AND IN COMMUNICATION WITH SAID MEDICATION UPON MOVEMENT OF SAID PISTON IN A DIRECTION AWAY FROM THE THE STOPPER WITH CONSEQUENT SUCKING OF THE BEAD OUT OF THE SECTION PORTION OF THE PASSAGEWAY, AND MEANS LIMITING THE MOTION OF THE NEEDLE TOWARD THE PISTON TO PREVENT THE END OF THE NEEDLE FROM DISLODGING THE BEAD FROM THE SECOND PORTION OF THE PASSAGEWAY.
 7. A CARTRIDGE FOR USE WITH A HYPODERMIC CARTRIDGE HOLDER COMPRISING: A TUBE, A PISTON AT ONE END OF SAID TUBE, A RESILIENT STOPPER AT THE OTHER END OF SAID TUBE, MEDICATION IN THE TUBE BETWEEN SAID PISTON AND STOPPER, SAID STOPPER HAVING A PASSAGEWAY THERETHROUGH HAVING A PORTION COMMUNICATING DIRECTLY WITH SAID MEDICATION, A BEAD OF SUBSTANTIALLY THE DIAMETER OF SAID PORTION OF THE PASSAGEWAY FRICTIONALLY HELD IN SAID PORTION, SAID BEAD BEING LARGER THAN SAID PASSAGEWAY, SAID STOPPER AT THE MEDICATION CONTACTING END OF THE STOPPER HAVING A CIRCUMFERENTIAL RECESS AND A CONVEX SURFACE ON THE STOPPER FROM THE MEDICATION END OF THE PASSAGEWAY TO THE RECESS. 